though the standard suits are descendants of the tarot, too, aren't they?
From what I've read (only one source though), it's the other way round: Tarot decks grew out of four-suit decks of playing cards, and the four tarot suits are the same as the suits in early, especially eastern, decks of cards. Countries that had paper tended to have cards early, so China, India, the Ottoman empire, Spain.
I'd be really curious to know whether this source has its facts straight, because it suggests that while the stories are far older, the paper Tarot cards themselves appeared about 500 years ago, as additions to what we think of as standard playing cards. And I had no idea they were as recent as that.
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Date: 2007-10-13 11:29 pm (UTC)From what I've read (only one source though), it's the other way round: Tarot decks grew out of four-suit decks of playing cards, and the four tarot suits are the same as the suits in early, especially eastern, decks of cards. Countries that had paper tended to have cards early, so China, India, the Ottoman empire, Spain.
I'd be really curious to know whether this source has its facts straight, because it suggests that while the stories are far older, the paper Tarot cards themselves appeared about 500 years ago, as additions to what we think of as standard playing cards. And I had no idea they were as recent as that.